What is the obsession with attracting the yoof

I would think so. 

I would think that suggestions of overnight pitches at lower cost would be far more in line with the expectations of the 40-50 year old new motorhomers. It's what I'd expect to find. 

Britstops are more in line with the expectations of my Physio who is considering a purchase 

Motorhomers well  catered for on Club sites?   They can book a hard standing? They can have groceries delivered to save them taking big motorhomes out?  They can  come in as visitors and fill up with water while they are on tour?  They can hire or borrow bikes at the site?  But I can take you to other sites where all those things are possible .

No reason why they should have any of those over and above other users.

If they are not using a CC site why should they access facilities. Most users want hard standing. 

As for lack of transport when pitched that applies all over.

One chooses a caravan or motorhome and each have advantages and drawbacks. If somebody chooses a very large motorhome they should be aware of certain parking restrictions. It is part of the package. Need supplies and to use motorhome tocollect? Supermarket car park at the qiet time.

Well, I can't really understand why club sites are so popular and a lot of club sites already booked up for the summer while non club sites seem to have space? Why 50% of new members are motorhomers ? or why all those MH go to club sites in the first place?

If you don't like clubs sites or what they offer or what they lack to offer don't go to them? If you want all that go where you can get it. You are not being forced to use club sites are you?

I think that is the case ET. I won't use a full facility site if I am only night stopping. If many others are doing this then the Club is not catching all the revenue it could.

I hope this thread is not going to degenerated into caravaners versus motorhomers, up to now there have been some good points made.

peedee

Some very interesting responses to suggesting Club Sites have a few touring pitches, for one night type stays. Agree shouldn't take out pitches on busy sites, but ought to be a possibility on less busy Club Sites. From a personal point of view, having switched to a smallish MH, the Club Sites do not generally meet our requirements. We don't need facilities, just a safe overnight place to park up if touring. We have used Britstops, mainly use CLs and small private sites, because they are a lot cheaper than Club Sites. 

Example of what was a great tour for us. Set off to Worcester, o/n at Bromyard Downs £12.50. Up and out all day o/n CL near Ludlow £10. Up and off all day towards Long Mynd/ Church Stretton/Much Wenlock, o/n at Much Wenlock, £12.50. Up and off, home via Ashbourne/Matlock, o/n near Matlock, £10. No facilities needed, no access problems, little time on sites. Good value, even though we could do cheaper of we wanted to. The two cheap Club Sites, one went last year, other goes this season, so we shall not use Club Sites at all next time we do this tour. We aren't spending any time on sites other than sleeping, so prices at moment are not for us. That's we a lot of new MH buyers are not bothering with Club. Club Sites are just way too expensive for one night pitch ups. This is what we did as 25 year olds, now gone back to same having bought a MH. The Site isn't the destination for us, just somewhere to sleep, maybe have a shower occasionally, wash my long hair!

alan, i think the point is that the Club 'over caters' for most touring MH needs.

especially when just overnighting, we may not even take on water or bother to empty waste (the tanks are plenty big enough) nor (in inclement weather) bother to use site showers and ise our own....

yes, sometimes we would use all these things, but 'on average' we are not heavy users of the clubs resources.

so, arriving at tea time, leaving after brekkie, and using less than average resources, i would think a 'stopover' price set at around £10 seems about right.

...and sometimes, we do 'go elsewhere', like Pub Stopovers etc, the main reason being its just not good value to spend £20 or more to pull in for the night.

Basically the club needs to keep renewing its membership as the older ones drop out and the earlier you get them the better.

If this discussion is about trying to come up with ideas on why the Club decided to rebrand and what could be done to make what the Club offers more attractive to motorhomers who might otherwise not join the Club? There seems to be some resistance to any changes that might impact on current use. That is all well and good does it help in expanding the Club's appeal? I don't suppose it would be sensible to start altering those honey pot sites which are always full but there are quite a few sites that don't enjoy that sort of occupancy so there is room for experimentation. As has been mentioned some continental sites have a separate area next to the campsite which allow stays of anywhere between a few hours to several days. they are often controlled by a barrier with an automatic payment machine. As they are relatively self sufficient they could be open all year where as the site could remain seasonal.

David

I have included a few photographs of this sort of arrangement at Amboise in the Loire Valley. The Municipal Campsite is beyond the trees in background of the first picture.